Many people know your career, but less about your journey with the Companions.
I did an apprenticeship as a pastry chef at the Association Ouvrière des Compagnons du Devoir and this is really what made it possible to get out of the difficult neighbourhood in which I grew up. I worked at the Dalloyau caterer where there were a lot of young people from the Association. That's how I went to St. Gervais Square.. Every night there were courses in mathematics or French and I really needed it! I even attended drawing and line classes. There was also this little side « band » among young people who were not to displease me. No one came to get us problems and we had the protection of the great pastry chef Pascal Niaud who also gave us drawing lessons.
Then I did my military service which put an end to my adventure in the Companion. Demobilized I come back to France and I'm chaining up the little jobs. Luckily, I'm going to have some nice meetings that will help me get back to school and have a CAP in the kitchen. I go to Australia for a year and on my return I will work with chefs Georges Pralus in Roanne and Claude Deligne in Paris; Claude will put me in touch with Joel Robuchon. I had once seen Joel with his cane, his Companion red scarf, it was at that time that I began to become interested again in the Companion. Companion Yves Thuriès was also, through his books, an important encounter during my apprenticeship. I was 30 when I returned to the Union at the Cayenne de Tours in 1989. On October 6, 1990 I pass Aspirant and this is the Land Plisson, Ile de France la FidelitéWho's sponsoring me. I had presented a work on Antonin Lent and the Vienna Congress. The criticism was carried out by the Compagnons Classiot of Lausanne, Fleury and Martineau of Paris. I then frequent the Vallin, Blanchard and many others Companions. I had not yet made a lot of house and they allowed me to progress quickly. I then worked in Nice with Chapel, in Toulon and Nîmes and this is rue de la Rôtisserie within our Cayenne de Tours that I come back to present the reception on October 5, 1991.
I then frequent the Vallin, Blanchard and many others Companions. I had not yet made a lot of house and they allowed me to progress quickly. I then worked in Nice with Chapel, in Toulon and Nîmes and this is rue de la Rôtisserie within our Cayenne de Tours that I come back to present the reception on October 5, 1991. The subject of my work is again related to the history of gastronomy since it was the theme of the Bagration lobster salad. The criticism was made by the Companions Dubray of Paris, Latapi and Foucher, Rennes and Jacquet of Tours. That night I received my name as Companion: Ile de France le Désir de Bien Faire, Companion Cook of United Duties.
I then left Tours and the restaurant in Montlouis where I got my first star and became responsible for the restaurants in Régine.
What do you remember from those years with the Companions?
The Companion was the structuring and educational framework that I needed at the time. And also meaning: the meaning of honor, of the word given. Each had to hold his own waste clean and there were real exchanges. A transfer of know-how was very interesting. I really felt these notions of Tradition and symbolism around me. I still remember the conduct, the long evenings of receptions and the criticisms of admissions. Everybody put their hands on the dough! I needed a framework and a family; The Companions offered me. The Companion is a support and framework that forces us to live up to our elders and commits us to try to overcome them. It pulls us up regardless of our origin and professional level.
When you talk about symbolism What are you thinking?
The first image for me is square, compass and initiation.
Was it intriguing?
Yeah, it was intriguing... At the same time, I came from a little complicated neighborhoods so there wasn't much that was really intriguing! Let's say symbolism, ritual, rules, no aggression. In learning I have never heard a Provost Have a word higher than the other or say anything. We put on a tie to eat at the table, if you said a vulgarity you put five francs in the box. Simple and efficient.
You have an important commitment to training and you don't hesitate to set up schools in working-class neighbourhoods. Do you think the Companion can be a proposal for young people who are breaking with the traditional learning paths?
Yes, that's clear! I will say that we must not miss these young people. Often, people who are in a situation of social insecurity, far from employment and educational support networks, need at some point a framework; a benevolent framework. Then whatever the trade; We have passion jobs and therefore there are sometimes sacrifices to make. That is why it is necessary to be very clear from the start and to lay down the rules: rigour and commitment. I think the Companion Union is able to offer an educational framework where Companions can become real examples for some young people. Self-help and fraternity must also be strong values and regain their full place among us. For 900 years the Companion has always sought to create free and educated men. I believe that the absolute desire for modernity has made us lose some fundamental landmarks.
In order to meet the demands for training and interest for the Companion, particularly in certain craft occupations, the Union has been implementing a policy of partnerships with vocational lycées in which young apprentices can be accompanied by the Companions for the past few months. How can we explain that the Union, with its strong representation of the mouth trades, has not been able to set up a training centre in this field in your opinion?
Good question... I think the Companions that served us as role models in the 1990s had incredible visibility and that they could at that time have created a training centre of excellence. I think today we could go even further by creating a CFA of the mouth and table arts with potters, laymen and cutlery. We have all this in the Union! A CFA of excellence where the notion of commitment would not be a vain word. We need a first place, show that it works and then develop it in all regions with certain specializations. Today we can find funding to launch such a project and there are foundations that are ready to support.
I also believe that the Union must rely on schools known as Médéric in Paris, with which one could develop a kind of Bachelor Companion but accessible to all, since motivation, rigour and commitment are there.
Is this not the risk of presenting the Companionage once again as any other training centre?
No, but it's a good front door. If the Union becomes a CFA lambda it won't work. These words must be implemented « tradition and modernity ». Gustave Malher says « tradition is not the worship of ashes, it is the transmission of passion. »
Lifelong learning is also essential for the Companions themselves. The Companion must continue to learn every day; and if the Union can organize courses to enable the young Companions to continue training on completely different subjects it would really be a huge added value. The only training offered at the time was wheelbarrow towers at the restoration site of Versailles. I came here a couple of times and that's it. I am therefore delighted to see that the Union today is ready to take risks and invest in the subjects of communication, training and youth.
Your definition of the Fraternity?
The fraternity is not to carry the other, but it is to help it grow.
Interview by F. Thibault published in Journal Le Compagnonage n°827
Photos:
© Marshall Kappel
© Mathilde de l'Ecotais
